‘We’re prepared for second spike’
FACE coverings will have to be worn in shops in England for the “foreseeable future” as part of the Government’s efforts to prevent a second wave of coronavirus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there was no end date for the requirement to wear coverings as Boris Johnson insisted that the NHS Test and Trace operation to contain the spread of the virus was “as good as or better than” any other system in the world.
The Prime Minister was challenged about preparations for a second wave following the publication of a report commissioned by Government advisers warning that there could be 120,000 hospital deaths in a “reasonable worst-case scenario” if the disease rebounds in winter.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson was “kidding no one” by claiming the Test and Trace operation was a “stunning success”.
The report from the Academy of Medical Sciences, commissioned by the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, says action must be taken now to mitigate the potential for a second peak of Covid-19, including scaling-up the Test and
Trace system. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson said: “Our Test and Trace system is as good as or better than any other system in the world and yes, it will play a vital part in ensuring that we do not have a second spike this winter.”
Some 144,000 people had self-isolated as a result of being contacted by NHS Test and Trace, he said.
Asked if he had read the scientists’ findings, Mr Johnson said he was “aware of the report” and claimed the Government was taking “every reasonable step” to prepare the country to cope with a possible second spike in cases.
The Prime Minister accused the Labour leader of “endlessly knocking the confidence of the people of this country” by criticising the Government’s actions.
Sir Keir said the percentage of people contacted and asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace had gone down since it was launched.
“It’s perfectly possible to support track and trace and point out the problems,” Sir Keir told the Prime Minister.
“Standing up every week and saying it’s a ‘stunning success’ is kidding no one – that isn’t giving people confidence in the system. They would want a Prime Minister who stands up and says ‘there are problems and this is what I’m going to do about them’ – not this rhetoric about ‘stunning success’ when it’s obviously not true.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson also committed to an “independent inquiry” into the handling of the pandemic, but now was not the “right moment” for it.
Earlier, Mr Hancock defended the move to make face coverings compulsory in England’s shops from July 24, despite resistance from some Tories. There have also been warnings that the move will deter shoppers just as high streets are reopening with the easing of the lockdown restrictions.